It bears obligatory mentioning Xeodrifter pays particular homage to Metroid, which is to say the first Metroid on the NES specifically. This is actually what drew me to the game more than anything else.
You can travel between any of the planets from the start as you like, with Xeodrifter offering zero amount of handholding or direction. That much feels liberating – at least initially, yet it also eventually leads to annoyance.
The level design is pretty dull. At any given time you’re unlikely to need to deal with anything more complex than a single corridor forward, twist and turn though that corridor probably will. Sure, there are a few secret tunnels off the beaten path (usually devoid of anything besides a power up to reward your luck, perseverance or ability to look up a full map online) and there are some alternate paths accessible by using at least one of six unlockable abilities. Typically though you’ll only be mining one way forward on any one of the given planets. Until, that is, you encounter one of the obstacles requiring an ability to bypass that you currently lack. It’s like hitting a brick wall and it happens a lot in Xeodrifter. I know, for those experienced in Metroidvania games, that sounds like par for course. Coming from someone who has played and loved many a Metroidvania title, I will say I still found it surprisingly irksome. The game basically boils down to finding the correct corridor over and over again among the four worlds. I’d keep in mind the impediments that blocked my path and return once I had the necessary ability to proceed, often only to find the only thing beyond that was yet another roadblock of some kind.
Alright, I admit I might be a little grumpy right now (I played Xeodrifter and wrote this review while starting to come down with a cold for what that’s worth), but the game doesn’t really have anything in my eyes that redeems it of this issue. Once you’ve spent a minute walking down any particular corridor on a planet, you’ll probably see nearly every art asset such planet has to offer. There was never a point where I thought a particular part of a level stood out or was of particular interest, and there was nothing that made me think about what kinds of places these planets were, their ecology, civilization and whatnot. Whatnot. What what.
The six abilities are serviceable in that they aid exploration, and using a few of them to navigate the usual obstacles offers a few fun moments. Phasing into the background is kind of cool and is put into some creative application for both exploration and combat. I understand this particular gameplay mechanic was also featured in the developer’s previous game, Mutant Mudds.
There aren’t many different enemies to run into. Most can be described as “some kind of bug monster” and all but I think two of them are more like traps than actual living creatures that are aware of your presence and want to make you dead. By traps, I mean they just repeat the same movement or attack over and over regardless of your presence or position in relation to them. For me, the primary danger from enemies was how quickly either they or their attacks came at me from beyond the edge of the screen. Simply being methodical and proceeding carefully will defeat most of the difficulty of exploring.
Speaking of enemies, there is only one boss creature in Xeodrifter. You fight it multiple times and each time you do it is a different color and has a new attack to add to its arsenal. I’m not going to necessarily knock the game for this though, as the boss battles actually felt like solid, challenging fights. The relatively unforgiving game, offering only a single save point located on your ship, at least gives a checkpoint before each boss to give some leeway to learn how to fight it. For a game with a minimum of story, there is also a certain ambiguity about this creature. Is it a single entity or is there more than one? Does it/they have a goal similar to the protagonist? Again, the only resort is to use your imagination.
Briefly, I will say the graphics, sound and controls are all serviceable. In aesthetic the graphics have an 8-bit NES look while taking advantage of effects only possible with more powerful hardware. For what Xeodrifter was clearly going for, there’s nothing wrong with the graphics here – they are colorful, clearly portray what they intend to, and offer a consistent style. As I said before though, the level design that makes use of these perfectly functional art assets was sadly bland. The sound likewise has an NES midi ring to it. Nothing is obtrusive, but nor did I encounter any music that stood out or helped give any particular planet a certain feel. While precise overall, a few of the game’s controls were more unyielding than I’d have liked. Every jump goes up to the same height regardless of how the button is pressed. Shooting the gun up is possible while stationary - not while moving though (kind of a missed opportunity).
Xeodrifter is on the short side, taking only several hours to beat even with lots of backtracking. I found that once I had all the abilities and was finishing up my exploration of each area, I had a much better time with the game when I was rampaging around with my superior weapons and abilities than I had when I was feeling lost and vulnerable with only a peashooter.
And so, I will now ask, who is this game for? Xeodrifter’s spiking difficulty and blind progression rules out the casual gamer crowd. If story, atmosphere, characterization and complex environments are all must haves for you, it’d be best to look elsewhere too. I wouldn’t even automatically recommend this game to someone who has an overall love for the Metroidvania archetype. Still, if you like old school, side-scrolling action platformers, you could do much worse than Xeodrifter. Somewhat barebones perhaps, it still feels like an earnest effort to pay homage to the memory of Metroid and deliver some similar gameplay. It is inexpensive, especially if you find it on sale, so at the very least I’d say the game is more or less worth the price for admission.
My rating: 6/10
